For the Binghamton wrestling team, the pieces seemed to be in order going into Friday. Despite a string of injuries, the Bearcats (6-10, 4-4 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) roster boasted the 22nd best heavyweight in the nation in senior Tyler Deuel, a strong upper-weight division, and a senior in the midst of a hot streak in 125-pound David White.
But stats don’t matter on the mat.
In a pair of dual meets against George Mason and American this weekend, BU found itself on the losing end twice, by scores of 22-16 and 20-15, respectively. Sunday’s loss at American (7-10, 2-5 EIWA) marked Binghamton’s third consecutive loss by six points or fewer.
“It’s really coming down to critical execution areas in critical moments,” Binghamton head coach Matt Dernlan said. “Being the guy that finds a way to get that takedown.”
BU began Friday night against the Patriots (9-9, 3-3 Eastern Wrestling League) with an easy six points as White took an opening forfeit. But that was the easiest it would be for the Bearcats all night. BU dropped its next six matches to fall behind, 22-9. The team attempted to rally back from the deficit as 184-pound junior Jack McKeever and 197-pound senior Caleb Wallace pushed the meet score to 22-12, but the victory was already sealed for GMU.
However, despite the Bearcats being all but out, the true headlining event of the match came at the meet’s finale as 22nd-ranked Deuel and George Mason’s 25th-ranked Jake Kettler met in the circle. Deuel thrashed the redshirt-senior to a tune of 14-0 with over five minutes of riding time, adding another notch to his stellar senior season.
“That was a big-time win for him,” Dernlan said.
Looking to rebound Sunday at American, the Bearcats began the match with their first opening dual loss since Nov. 29, as White fell, 11-5, to Eagle redshirt-sophomore David Terao. BU lost three of its next four, two by major decision, to bolster the Eagles up at intermission, 14-3.
Of the Bearcats that lost in the opening half, two were true freshmen and one was a sophomore — representative of the youth of the team.
“With a young team, it comes with a lot of growing pains,” Dernlan said. “And sometimes you just got to stay consistent to your patience and, ‘Hey, one day it will click with these guys.’ We hope it’s sooner rather than later.”
Out of the break, redshirt-freshman Zack Zupan and freshman Steve Schneider picked up wins in the 165 and 174 weight classes, respectively. Only trailing by three, McKeever dropped a close would-be tying match, 1-0, as AU increased its advantage, 17-11. After another close loss came in the 197-class and American pushed Binghamton to 0-2 on the weekend despite another exciting win by Deuel to close the meet.
Thirteen total points was the difference on the weekend between the Bearcats going 2-0, instead of 0-2.
“The dual meet is in contention, and we seem to be losing the matches by one point,” Dernlan said. “We got to really figure out how to step up in those critical situations.”
In the regular season’s final month, with only one remaining EIWA match on their schedule, the Bearcats will set their focus on non-conference opponent Buffalo, who BU will meet at home on Friday. But don’t look for any big changes on the mat from the Bearcats on Friday.
“It’s not about coming up with anything new or something different, you got to be consistent in your message,” Dernlan said. “And this is something we’ve been preaching the entire year, starting with the summer. It’s getting to the point where the guys just have to buy in to those last critical areas.”
First match against Buffalo is set for 7 p.m. on Friday at the West Gym.